💬 Connecting the Radio

[hek]

This thread contains comments for the article "Connecting the Radio" posted on MySensors.org.

[mortommy]

If you are powering the device by batteries, I'd suggest to avoid electrolytic decoupling capacitors and go for ceramic or film one since the latter have a smaller leakage current, avoiding battery drain.

[FotoFieber]

Don't forget the antenna if you use a RFM69 or you may damage your device.

[sundberg84]

@FotoFieber - Good one, I added the warning on the build site.

[hek]

Might be good with a antenna wire-cutting guide for different frequencies as well.

[sundberg84]

@hek - I can look into that.

[DiverAlpha]

Hi all,

I'm using the Arduino Micro with al NRF24L01 radio. With the micro it's not posible to use the pin config of the Nano.
I got it working with the connections below.

NRF24 > Micro
Miso > Miso
Mosi > Mosi
SCK > SCK
CSN > Pin D7
CE > Pin D8

Thereby I put the code below in my arduino code before de "#include <SPI.h>"

// Pin Confuguration for Arduino Micro
#define MY_RF24_CE_PIN 8
#define MY_RF24_CS_PIN 7

Maybe this is helpful for some other users.

Grtz Diver

[carleki]

"try adding a decoupling capacitor of 4.7µ - 47µF (the exact size usually doesn't matter)"

I can use 4.7µ or 47µ only ? or a size between 4.7 and 47 ?

[arraWX]

@carmelo42 Any size between 4.7µ any 47µ will be fine.

[carleki]

thanks @arraWX :)

[gvorster]

Can I use a RFM69HCW as radio?

[drradkin]

Can I use an arduino nano for this? If so, What pins do I use? Also, will I need to change the code?

[hek]

@drradkin said:

Can I use an arduino nano for this? If so, What pins do I use? Also, will I need to change the code?

Yes you can. Use the same pins for Nano.

[gvorster]

I used RFM69 with Arduino before and a library where I have to initialize the radio with the frequency (868MHZ in my case) Does the mysensors library work for all frequencies of RFM69 without telling it which frequency to use?

[mfalkvidd]

@gvorster 868 is the default so you don't need to do anything. If you want to change it, add

#define MY_RFM69_FREQUENCY

before including MySensors.h in your sketch. See https://github.com/mysensors/MySensors/blob/a31eff112e4895198bf6ec385fdeedb2910bb628/MyConfig.h#L588 for valid settings.

[gvorster]

@mfalkvidd said:

@gvorster 868 is the default so you don't need to do anything. If you want to change it, add

#define MY_RFM69_FREQUENCY

Great, thanks!

[palande.vaibhav]

@DiverAlpha said:

Hi all,

I'm using the Arduino Micro with al NRF24L01 radio. With the micro it's not posible to use the pin config of the Nano.
I got it working with the connections below.

NRF24 > Micro
Miso > Miso
Mosi > Mosi
SCK > SCK
CSN > Pin D7
CE > Pin D8

Thereby I put the code below in my arduino code before de "#include <SPI.h>"

// Pin Confuguration for Arduino Micro
#define MY_RF24_CE_PIN 8
#define MY_RF24_CS_PIN 7

Maybe this is helpful for some other users.

Grtz Diver

@DiverAlpha
Thanx a lot for commenting with that information. I was having problems with the Arduino Mega. I connected the NRF24L01+ to the appropriate SPI pins on the Mega and then just defined the CE and CS pins in the code an now it works. Thanks again

[DiverAlpha]

Hi all,

I tried a lot in the last coup[le of days but I can't get my network up and running...

I've got a Micro DHT sensor ans a Uno Ethernet Gateway.

The output of the Gateway:
0;255;3;0;9;Starting gateway (RNNGA-, 2.0.0)
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:INIT
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:RADIO:OK
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:GW MODE
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:READY
IP: 192.168.5.8

So I think this is nice but I'm not complete sure.

The output of the DHT sensor:
TSM:INIT
TSM:RADIO:OK
TSP:ASSIGNID:OK (ID=105)
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 105-105-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 105-105-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 105-105-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 105-105-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
!TSM:FPAR:FAIL
!TSM:FAILURE
TSM:PDT

To me it seems that the sensor cannot get a good connection to the gateway by the RF connection. The physical distance between de two RF modules is about 15 cm and I'm using a 10uF condensator on both of the RF modules.

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Tnx in advance!

[mfalkvidd]

@DiverAlpha try moving the nodes further apart. It might be counter-intuitive, but many have had problems when nodes are too close.

Do you get nothing at all in the log of the gateway when the sensor tries to find parent?

[DiverAlpha]

@mfalkvidd, They are now 2 meters apart from each other but still the same problem. I was thinking in this direction also but because I build those two on the same breadboard, it was a bit difficult to separate them. I now build the sensor on another breadboard and moved is 2 meters away. It can't be any longer because of the length of my USB cables.

All the logging I got from the gateway is posted in my previous post. So there is nothing about any child in there.